Improvement in steam-boilers



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

P. N. BURKE, OF BUFFALO, NEV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT lN 'STEAM-BOILERS.

`To a/ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, P.N. BURKE, of Buffalo, in the county of Erie andState of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inSteam-Boilers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure l is an end view of ahorizontal boiler with my improvement. Fig.2 is a transverse section of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal verticalsection of the same. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of theboiler,` exhibiting the invention somewhat modiiied. Fig. 5 eX- hibits amodification of the draft-distributing plates.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

My invention relates to a novel arrangement of direct or return iiueswithin the body of a boiler for the purpose of effecting economy offuel, the rapid generation of steam after iiring up, and the perfectcirculation of the water in contact with the heating-surfaces of theilues and of the shell. It also consists in a certain system ofdraft-distributers employed in combination with such arrangement offlues for the purpose of producing an equable diffusion of heat over thewhole surface of the flues.

VTo enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the cylindrical shell of the body of the boiler, and B B B, Figs. 2and 3, are the fines-running right through it in a horizontal andlongitudinal direction. These fiues have their transverse sections inthe form of arcs, concentric, or nearly so, to the shell of the boiler,and there is an equal number on each side of the center of the boiler,the tops of said flues being all on the same level at a safe distancebelow the intended waterlevel, and their lower parts ranging in twovertical planes at short distances from a vertical plane passinglongitudinally through the center of the boiler, so as to form anupright throat, a, a, Fig. 2, between the lower parts of those on oneside and the lower parts of those on the opposite side. These flues maybe employed either as return-fines in connection with a fire under theboiler, or as direct fiues in connection with a fire under the boiler,or as direct iiues `in connection with a iire-boX arranged in front, asin a locomotive-boiler. The operation produced by this arrangement ofiiues is as follows: The columns of water in the spaces b b, between thedues and the water on the outer sides of the outer iues, B B, and thatin contact with the inner sides of the Hues B`B, becoming heated, iscaused to ascend, while the body of water in the central space, c,between theues B B being less exposed to the action of the heat, andconsequently cooler, descends through the upright throat a, to take theplace of what has been carried up, thus producing a circulation, asindicated by arrows in Fig. 2.

E E, Figs. l and 3, are the draftfdistributers, consisting of platescovering the ends of the iiues, but provided with apertures e e for theescaping gaseous products of combustion. To illustrate the obj ect ofthese distributers, it is necessary to explain that `with almost anypracticable arrangement of the fire-place and chimney the fire-placewill be lower than the lues and the entrance to the chimney above them,and so the draft would naturally be strongest in the lower part of theflues at the end where they receive the products of combustion and inthe higher part `at the end where they make their exit; hence, supposingthe left-hand end in Fig. 3 to be the receiving end and the right-handend the escape end, the draf-t through the iiues would naturally be inthe direction of the arrows shown in that ligure, if both ends of theiiue were open the full extent of their transverse area, and the upperpart of the I'lue atthe left-hand end and the lower part at the otherend would be left comparatively cool. The apertures in the distributersat the receiving end of the flues are made small at the bottom andlarger toward the top, as shown in Fig. 1, and those in the distributersat the discharg-` ing end precisely the reverse, as shown in Fig. 2,where the said apertures are seen through the flues, and in this way thedraft is equalized at tlie top and bottom at both ends and an equabledistribution of heat over the whole surface of the iiues is obtained.Instead of a series of apertures, e e, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, atapering slotted aperture may be provided in each distributer, as shownin Fig. 5, the narrowest end of the said aperture being at the bottom ofthe receiving-distributer and at theY top of the discharging one. Thedistribnters should be so applied as to be capable of removal to permitthe cleaning ont of the lues.

Instead of the are-formed flues B B B shown in Figs. 2 and 3 severalseries of oylindrieal tubular i'lues arrangedin the form of ares, asshown in Fig. 4, may be employed, and I regard such an arrangement oftubular fines as an equivalent of the arrangement of are-formed linesfirst described.

P. N. BURKE.

Witnesses:

C. M. HUGHEs, MICH. HUGHES.

